Associate Professor Texas A&M-San Antonio, Texas, United States
Session Description: The study of environmental microbiomes has skyrocketed in recent years. This growth has been driven by advances in DNA sequencing technologies and by a paradigm shift in the field of microbial ecology sparked by culture-independent and metagenomic techniques. Inexpensive next-generation DNA sequencing and on-line data analysis tools have made microbiome research projects increasingly accessible to undergraduate students and even high school students. Microbiome projects allow students to explore the diversity and complexity of their local environmental. The projects are flexible and can address core learning goals in a wide range of courses, including ecology, environmental studies, microbiology, introductory biology, genetics, and others. Microbiome research projects are an excellent fit for the course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) model, and this short course will cover the protocols and strategies we have developed for implementing microbiome projects in a CURE format.
We have established a national network for microbiome research and that provides support to faculty interested in incorporating the exploration of microbiomes into their courses. This short course will focus on the excitement of microbiomes and the potential for faculty to provide training in the scientific process to their students through engagement in data analysis. The tools and resources for microbiome analyses are extensive, and the rapid pace of change can make navigating the best pathway forward a challenge. This short course will provide examples of how to embark on microbiome data analysis projects using resources that do not require coding or advanced bioinformatics skills.
